Retail display unit

ABSTRACT

A glide ( 20 ) includes a base ( 22 ), a front member, and a number of walls ( 26 ) extending front-to-back. Both the base and the front member are advantageously formed as a number of pieces secured side-by-side to provide expandability. The front member may be secured to the walls via dovetail interaction and different front members may be provided for different wall spacings.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application claims priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/169,606 entitled “Glide” that was filed on Dec.8, 1999, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in itsentirety herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention relates to glides, and more particularly to retaildisplay glides for holding a number of beverage containers.

(2) Description of the Related Art

There are a wide variety of devices for storing, displaying, anddispensing products such as individual beverage containers. A broadgenus of such devices are known as glides. Such glides confine the goodto discrete lanes (often designated rows or columns), typically arrayedextending front-to-back in a refrigerator, display case, or shelf unit.Many such glides are configured or mounted so that the glide basesurface supporting the goods inclines from front to back to allow aback-to-front gravity feed.

U.S. Pat. No. Des. 275058 discloses one basic glide. The glide has agiven footprint on the associated shelf or other support surface.

Glides have been provided which are reversibly or permanently alterableto accommodate and available shelf footprint. U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,337identifies a glide having front and rear portions which slidinglyinterfit to permit adjustment of the front-to-back length of the glide.U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,739 discloses a glide in which a rear portion isdisjointably coupled to a front portion to permit size adjustment by theaddition or removal thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,025 discloses astackable glide system wherein outboard lanes may be severed from theglide to narrow it.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,256 discloses a system wherein individuallane-defining members may be secured side-by-side to form a compositeglide. In addition to producing individual members of a single lane inwidth, the assignee of that patent is believed to make one-piece memberswhich define multiple (e.g., three) lanes.

There, however, remains a need in the art for an improved glide with theability to effectively accommodate a variety of product sizes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention is directed to a glideapparatus for holding a number or group of items. A base has front,back, left, and right ends, an upper surface for supporting the items,and a bottom surface. At least some of a number of wall members areremovably installable on the base, extending front-to-back so as tocooperate with the base to define a number of channels. Each channel isdimensioned for accommodating an associated front-to-back column of theitems. A front member is installable to the base and to the installedwall members to bound forward extremities of the channels.

In various implementations, the base may comprise a molded plasticprimary base member or piece and at least one molded plastic auxiliarybase member or piece, removably assembled side-by-side. The front membermay comprise a molded plastic primary front member and at least onemolded plastic auxiliary front member, removably assembled side-by-side.The items may be beverage containers such as plastic bottles, glassbottles, and metal cans.

The front member may be first front member, including a number of wallmember-engaging features at substantially a first pitch. The first pitchmay define an associated pitch of the channels. A second front membermay be provided having similar wall member-engaging features spaced at asubstantially different second pitch. The installed wall members may beremovable and reinstallable so as to engage the features of the secondfront member and define a second group of channels for accommodating asecond group of containers having a substantially different diameterthan the first group. Each auxiliary front member may include one of thewall member-engaging features along a first side thereof. The auxiliaryfront members may front a group of the channels at a different pitchfrom those front members fronted by the primary front member.

Each wall member may include top, bottom, front, and rear edges. Atleast two forward-directed fingers may depend from the bottom edge. Thewall members may be installable on the base by inserting such fingersdownward through associated slots in the base and shifting the wallmembers forward so that an upper surface of each finger engages thebottom surface of the base. The front edge of each wall member mayinclude a vertically-extending projection engageable via verticaltranslation to a complementary channel in the front member. The frontmember, when installed to the base and to the installed wall members,may have surfaces cooperating with complementary surfaces of the base.This cooperation may prevent a rearward shift of the installed wallmembers so as to prevent removal of the installed wall members unlessthe front member is at least partially disinstalled via verticaltranslation. The front member may include a number of apertures, eachaperture associated with one of the channels and effective to allow atleast partial viewing of a lead item in the associated column of theassociated channel.

In another aspect, the invention is directed to a kit for forming aretail display glide apparatus for holding a number of containers. Thekit includes a primary base member and a number of auxiliary basemembers each having a width substantially less than a width of theprimary base member and configured to be selectively assembled with theprimary base member in a side-by-side configuration to form a glidebase. At least some of a number of wall members are selectivelyinstallable in the base extending front-to-back so as to cooperate withthe base to define a number of channels, each channel for accommodatingthe associated front-to-back column of the containers. Wall members areso installable alternatively in at least two sets of positionscorresponding to two different nominal channel widths. At least twofront member assembly kits are respectively associated with the channelwidths. Each front member assembly kit includes a primary front memberand a number of auxiliary front members configured to be selectivelyassembled with the primary front member to form a front member assembly.The front member assembly is attachable to the base and to the installedwall members so as to bound forward extremities of the channels.

In various implementations of the invention, each front member assembly,along back surfaces of its primary and auxiliary front members, mayinclude a number of concave surface portions respectively aligned withthe channels for accommodating the front container in each associatedcolumn. The primary and auxiliary base members may each be single piecesof molded plastic including a number of pairs of front and backlongitudinal slots. Each wall member may be a single piece of moldedplastic and have a plurality of holes inboard of its edges. A pair offront and back forward-projecting fingers may depend from the bottomedge and be insertable through an associated pair of the slots tointerlock the wall member to the glide base via a subsequent forwardtranslation of the wall member. The wall members may also include avertically-extending projection along the front edge. Each front memberassembly may include a number of vertically-extending channelscomplementary to the vertically-extending projection to interlock thefront member assembly with the installed wall members upon a relativevertical translation.

In other aspects, the invention is directed to a front member for such aglide apparatus.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of a glide according to principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the glide of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a primary piece of a base of the glide of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a top view of an auxiliary piece of the base of the glide ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the auxiliary piece of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a right side view of the auxiliary piece of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the primary base piece ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a right side view of a wall of the glide of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a primary piece of a front of the glide ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the primary front piece of FIG. 9,taken along line 10—10.

FIGS. 11, 12, and 13 are top, bottom and right side views of the primaryfront piece of FIG. 9.

FIG. 14 is a top view of an auxiliary front piece of the glide of FIG.1.

FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of the glide of FIG. 2 takenalong line 15—15.

FIG. 16 is a view of the glide of FIG. 1 showing front member piecespartially installed.

FIG. 17 is a left side view of the glide of FIG. 1 showing a leftmostcolumn of beverage containers in a leftmost lane.

FIG. 18 is a front view of the glide of FIG. 1 showing the lead beveragecontainers in a plurality of columns of beverage containers.

FIG. 19 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the primary base pieceof FIG. 3.

FIGS. 20–23 are partial semi-schematic top views of four different frontmembers alternatively installed on a single base.

FIG. 24 is a top sectional view of a relatively narrow front memberpiece.

FIG. 25 is a top sectional view of an alternate front for the glide ofFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an assembled glide 20 having a front 20A, a back 20B, aleft side 20C, and a right side 20D (left and right are from theperspective of a user facing the glide front). The glide defines aplurality of side-by-side lanes from a leftmost lane 200A to a rightmostlane 200H. Each lane has a width and length effective to accommodate anassociated front-to-back column of beverage containers. The glidecomprises the separately-formed combination of a base 22, a front member24, and a plurality of dividers or wall members (walls) 26. Each lane isformed as a generally right channel comprising the adjacent sidesurfaces of the adjacent walls and the adjacent portion of the uppersurface of the base. As is better seen in FIG. 2, the base 22 includes aprimary member 28 and two auxiliary members 30 assembled side-by-side.The primary member 28 is substantially wider than the auxiliary members30, which, in the exemplary embodiment, are identical to each other andare assembled together at the right side of the primary member 28. Theability to assemble one or more auxiliary base members to the primarybase member allows the glide width to be adjusted to approximatelycorrespond to the available width in the refrigerator or display case.

FIG. 3 shows the primary base member 28 prior to assembly of the glide.The primary base member has front, back, left, and right ends 28A–28D.Similarly, FIG. 4 shows the front, back, left, and right ends 30A–30D ofone of the auxiliary base members 30. The left end or side 30C includesa pair of vertically-extending dovetail projections 32A and 32B, thefaces of which are seen in the left side view of FIG. 5. The right sides28D and 30D of the primary and auxiliary base members bear dovetailchannels 34A and 34B (FIG. 6) complementary to the projections 32A and32B, respectively. The primary base member may omit the projections 32Aand 32B in an embodiment which allows auxiliary members to only beassembled to one side of the primary member. In the exemplaryembodiment, each base member is a single molded plastic piece havingleft and right sidewalls (35A and 35B for primary base member 28 in FIG.7), a plurality of front-to-back rails 36 (the upper surfaces of whichsupport the containers) and a plurality of cross-members 38 spanningbetween the sidewalls and combining with the sidewalls and rails to forma grid of slot-like ventilation/drainage apertures 40. In the exemplaryembodiment, the channels 34A and 34B are formed as openings in the rightsidewall of the unitary plastic (e.g., opaque medium impact styrene)molding forming the associated base member. Each base member furtherincludes a rear wall 42, (FIG. 5) having a height greater than theremainder of the base so as to project upward above the upper surfacesof the rails and sidewalls. Each base member includes a front wall 44(FIG. 4) shorter than the remainder of the base member (FIG. 5) so thatits upper extremity is recessed below the upper surfaces of the rails asdescribed in further detail below. Near its front wall, each base membermay have one or more upward-directed recesses for capturing a lip alongthe front edge of a shelf to retain the glide on the shelf.Alternatively, or additionally, downward-directed projections may beprovided to engage the elements of a wire shelf or engage matingfeatures of other shelving. This can provide a desired front-to-backlocation of the glide on the shelf. This may further be facilitated byproviding features for securing the glide to the shelf. For example,channels may be provided in the upper surface of the base behind thefront member to accommodate tie wraps extending through the base andengaging a wire shelf or the like.

In the exemplary embodiment, the primary base member includes a numberof additional longitudinal structural walls 45 at approximately regulartransverse intervals and approximately vertically coextensive with thesidewalls 35A and 35B. In the exemplary embodiment, the walls 45 alsoserve as rails, each wall 45 in place of an associated verticallyshorter rail 36 at the particular transverse location. A relativelynarrow auxiliary base member may have sufficient strength in the absenceof such walls 45. In one exemplary embodiment, the base members have anoverall length of approximately 26 inches (66 cm), a height at the railupper surface of approximately 0.6 inches (1.5 cm), a rear wall heightof approximately 1.0 inches (2.5 cm), and a rail height of approximately0.3 inches (0.7 cm). The exemplary primary base member width isapproximately 21.45 inches (54.5 cm) and the auxiliary base member widthis approximately 3.51 inches (8.92 cm).

FIG. 8 shows features of a wall 26. The wall 26 includes front, back,top, and bottom edges 26A–26D and left and right side surfaces. The wallfeatures an array of ventilation apertures 50 permitting airflow betweenthe lanes. A plurality of projections 52 and 54 depend from the bottomedge. At least some of the projections (e.g., the projections 52)include forward directed fingers 56 having an upper surface 58 spacedapart from and facing the bottom edge 26D. Along the front edge 26A, thewall includes a vertically-extending dovetail projection 60.Advantageously, the wall is of a height sufficient to maintain thecontainers within their respective lanes. To achieve this, the height isadvantageously sufficient so that the top edge 26C is near or above thecenter of gravity of the containers in the adjacent one or two lanes.This is particular advantageous near the front of the glide as agravity-feed action will cause the containers toward the front of agiven lane to experience higher skewing forces than containers towardthe back of that lane. The wall may have an exemplary height of 5.0inches (13 cm) which is advantageous for relatively tall containers suchas one-liter plastic carbonated beverage bottles and thirty-two-oz. (946ml) glass juice bottles. This height facilitates a three row high arrayof one inch diameter ventilation apertures. For twelve-oz. (355 ml)cans, a 3.5 inch (9 cm) high wall with two rows of such apertures is apossibility. Each wall is advantageously molded as a single plasticpiece (e.g., of opaque or translucent polypropylene). The illustratedwall may have an effective height of approximately 3.9 inches (10 cm) atits front, stepping down to approximately 1.9 inches (4.8 cm) at itsback in a material-saving compromise. By molding the walls separatelyfrom the base and front member, it is relatively easy to include theventilation apertures and provide such apertures within the body of thewall (i.e., not open to the wall edges).

Returning to FIG. 2, the front member 24 includes a primary member 70and a number of auxiliary members 72 assembled side-by-side. In theexemplary embodiment, each of the members 70 and 72 is formed as asingle molded plastic piece (e.g., of transparent polycarbonate). Thefront member includes a plurality of vertically-extending dovetailchannels 74 complementary to the projections 60 of the walls 26. Thefront member 24 defines the forward extremities of the lanes, having aslightly sub-semicircular floor portion 76 associated with each lane andhaving an upper surface substantially coplanar with the upper surface ofthe base when assembled. This coplanar or flush assembly is facilitatedby allowing an aft extremity of the floor portion 76 to be accommodatedby the vertical recess at the front wall 44 (FIG. 5). FIG. 9 showsfurther details of the front member with respect to its primary piece70. For each lane, extending upward from the floor portion 76 is anarcuate wall portion 78 having a central aperture 80. Above theaperture, at the top of the front member, a crown portion 82 projectsradially outward (relative to the wall center of curvature) providingadditional structural integrity. Additionally, the location of the topof the front member is preferably at a height sufficiently near or abovethe center of gravity of the beverage containers so that the leadcontainer in the lane will not fall over the front member (especially ifthe glide is positioned with a rear-to-front decline). Furthermore, theaperture 80 is advantageously sized to allow viewing of a substantialportion of any label or graphic on the lead container. The inner surface84 of the wall 78 has a radius of curvature approximately equal to butpreferably slightly greater than the maximum radius of the containerwhich the particular front member is designed to accommodate in theassociated lane.

To permit the primary and auxiliary front pieces 70 and 72 to beassembled to each other, at its rightmost extremity immediately in frontof the dovetail channel 74 each of the pieces 70 and 72 includes asingle vertically-extending, forward-facing, dovetail channel 90 (FIGS.11, 12 and 14). Along its left side, each auxiliary piece 72 includes asingle, vertically-extending, rearward-facing, dovetail projection 92(FIG. 14), complementary to the channels 90.

To assemble the glide, the primary and auxiliary base members areassembled to each other by mating the projections 32A and 32B of eachsuch member with the channels 34A and 34B of the member to its left by arelative downward vertical movement of the left member relative to theright. To ease engagement and facilitate proper vertical alignment, theprojections 32A and 32B and channels 34A and 34B may be provided with aslight bottom-to-top taper.

With the base assembled, the walls are then advantageously installed. Todo this, the necessary number of walls (for the base width and desiredlane width) are aligned at the appropriate pitch for the desired lanewidth and lowered so that their projections 52 and 54 pass intoassociated ones of the slots 40. When this is done, each wall is thenshifted forward to an installed position (FIG. 15) so its fingers 56pass beneath adjacent ones of the cross-members 38. In the illustratedposition engagement of the upper surfaces 58 of the fingers 56 withunderside surface portions 96 of the cross-members 38 prevents the wallfrom being shifted vertically upward relative to the base.Forward-facing root portions of any of the projections 52 and 54 maycontact aft surfaces of the cross-members 38 to prevent further forwardmovement of the wall relative to the base.

With the walls in the installed position, a front member may then beinstalled either as a unit or in its pieces. This is done via a downwardvertical translation of the front member so that its dovetail channels74 receive the projections 60 (the front member pieces being or havingbeen assembled to each other via vertical translation engaging thedovetail channels 90 with the projections 92). FIG. 16 shows the frontmember pieces in an intermediate condition of installation. As the frontmember moves downward to its final installed position (FIG. 15),projections 100 and 102 (FIG. 9) depending from the floor portion 76enter transverse slot-like apertures 104 (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) immediatelybehind the front wall portions of the base pieces 28 and 30. In theexemplary embodiment, each auxiliary base piece has a single aperture104 while, for structural integrity of its front wall portion, theprimary base piece has a number of apertures 104 separated by the walls45. In the exemplary embodiment, each projection 100 is associated witha pair of projections 102 on either of its sides, there being just oneset of three such projections on each auxiliary front member but aplurality on the primary front member. In the exemplary embodiment, eachprojection 100, along its lower extremity, has a forward directed barb106 (FIG. 13) for engaging a complementary groove in the aft surface ofthe associated base piece front wall to serve as a detent holding thefront member in its installed position. With the projections 100 and 102captured within the apertures 104, interaction of the projection withthe aft surface of the apertures 104 prevents rearward translation ofthe walls 26 (which are locked to the front member via cooperation oftheir associated dovetail projections 60 and channels 74) from theinstalled position. Since the walls can't be shifted to their rearposition, they can't be removed until the front member is at leastpartially removed via upward translation. In an alternative embodiment(not shown) the projections 100 and 102 are replaced bylongitudinally-extending rib-like projections dimensioned to fit withinthe apertures 104. In one possible implementation, such projectionscould be placed at an even pitch (e.g., to engage every third aperture104), with the first projection associated with the leftmost frontmember and engaging the leftmost aperture.

When distributed as a kit, a maximal kit would include a primary basemember and sufficient auxiliary base members to form a base of themaximum anticipated width. The kit would include one or more frontmember kits, each for a different size container and including a primaryfront member and sufficient auxiliary front members for the maximumanticipated width. The kit would further include sufficient wall members(of one or more heights) as may be warranted by the various front memberkits.

It is possible to configure the glide for simultaneous use withdifferent sizes of beverage containers by combining front member piecesdimensioned for such different size containers (e.g., a primary frontmember piece dimensioned for twelve-oz. (355 ml) cans with secondarypieces dimensioned for sixteen-oz. (473 ml) bottles).

Provisions may be made to accommodate various depths of availablerefrigerator space. In the exemplary embodiment, the base members andwalls are molded in maximum anticipated lengths which define the maximumglide depth. Where such depth is unavailable in the refrigerator, theglide may be shortened. To facilitate this, the base member sidewallsand any intermediate structural walls 45 are provided withupward-directed reliefs 110 at a plurality of locations along the lengthof the base member. At aligned locations, each wall 26 includes a relief112 extending vertically along at least one of the wall side surfaces.The user may apply torque at the reliefs 110 and 112 so as to break offone or more rear lengths of the base members and walls at preferentialyield zones defined by those reliefs. In such a way, the depth of theglide can be shortened to accommodate the available refrigerator depth.Optionally, a more complicated system may be provided in which theshortening is reversible. In another example of an alternativeembodiment, the system may be made expandable front-to-back as it isexpandable side-to-side. By way of example, the base members may have arear wall which does not protrude above the surfaces defining theassociated lanes. The rear wall may include interengagement featuressuch as dovetail projections or channels engageable with complementaryfeatures in the front wall of an extension member. The extension membersmay be provided in the same width as the existing base members or inother appropriate widths. For example, one extension member may spanmultiple of the existing base members. When so extended front-to-back,correspondingly longer dividers 26 may be utilized or auxiliary dividersmay be provided to effectively extend the dividers 26.

Once the glide has been assembled, it is easy to modify the glide toaccommodate different sized containers by removing the initial frontmember, repositioning the walls (including adding or removing walls asmay be necessitated by the different size of container) and then addingthe new front member (either from the kit in which the glide originallycame or new altogether). FIGS. 20–23 are partial semi-schematic topviews of front members associated with four different containerdiameters all on a single width of base (formed by a primary piece andtwo auxiliary pieces). All utilize the standard base identified above.FIG. 20 shows an embodiment suitable for twelve-oz. (355 ml) soft drinkcans having a seven-lane primary front piece and three one-laneauxiliary members. FIG. 21 shows a sixteen/twenty-oz. (473/591 ml)plastic carbonated beverage bottle embodiment having a six-lane primaryfront member and three one-lane auxiliary members. FIG. 22 shows aone-liter plastic carbonated beverage bottle embodiment having asix-lane primary member and two one-lane auxiliary members. FIG. 23shows a thirty-two-oz. (946 ml) fruit drink bottle embodiment having afive-lane primary member and two one-lane auxiliary members. In thesefour illustrated embodiments, the primary front member has a widthassociated with the maximum number of lanes available on the primarybase member. The next lane over, fronted by the first auxiliary frontmember, overlaps the seam or junction between the primary base memberand first auxiliary base member. Where there is more than one auxiliaryfront member, one of the additional auxiliary front members overlapseach additional seam/junction between auxiliary base members. Tofacilitate mixing and matching of container sizes in a given display, anarrower primary front member may be used (e.g., a three-lane embodimentfor sixteen/twenty-oz. (473/591 ml) plastic carbonated beverage bottlesas shown in FIG. 24) allowing multiple front member pieces to be usedwithin the width of the primary base member.

FIG. 25 shows an alternate front member which may be largely similar tothe previously-identified front members. A key difference is that theprimary front member is equipped with interengagement features similarto the previously identified auxiliary front members so as to allowauxiliary front members to be added to either side of the primary frontmember. Namely, at an extreme first side (the right side in theillustrated embodiment) the primary front member can include the samechannels 74 and 90 previously described for the primary and auxiliaryfront members. However, at the second side (left in the illustratedembodiment) it includes a projection 92 similar to that previously notedonly for the auxiliary front members. In the illustrated example of FIG.25, one auxiliary front member is thus attached to the right of theprimary front member and one is attached to the left of the primaryfront member. To complete this front member, an adapter 120 is includedhaving a first vertically extending dovetail channel 122 for engagingthe projection 92 at the extreme second side of the assembled frontmember. The adapter includes a second channel 124 dimensioned andpositioned to engage the projection 60 of the wall member at the second(left as illustrated) side of the plurality of walls 26.

One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, many construction techniques and materials may be utilized.Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the followingclaims.

1. A retail display glide apparatus for holding a plurality of items,comprising: a base having front, back, left, and right ends, an uppersurface for supporting the items, and a bottom surface; a plurality ofwall members, at least some thereof removably installable on the baseextending front to back so as to cooperate with the base to define aplurality of channels, each channel dimensioned for accommodating anassociated front to back column of the items; and a front memberinstallable to the base and to installed ones of the wall members tobound forward extremities of the channels wherein: the front edge ofeach wall member includes a vertically-extending projection, engagablevia vertical translation to a complementary channel in the front member;and the front member, when installed to the base and to the installedwall members, has surfaces cooperating with complementary surfaces ofthe base to prevent a shift of the installed wall members so as toprevent removal of the installed wall members unless the front member isat least partially disinstalled via vertical translation.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 in combination with the plurality of items andwherein the plurality of items is a plurality of beverage containersselected from the group consisting of plastic bottles, glass bottles,and metal cans.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the base comprisesa molded plastic primary base member and at least one molded plasticauxiliary base member removably assembled side by side, the primary basemember being wider than each at least one auxiliary base member; and thefront member comprises a molded plastic primary front member and atleast one molded plastic auxiliary front member removably assembled sideby side, the primary front member being wider than each at least oneauxiliary front member.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 in combination withthe plurality of items and wherein the plurality of items is a pluralityof beverage containers selected from the group consisting of plasticbottles, glass bottles, and metal cans.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said shift is a rearward shift.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 incombination with the plurality of items and wherein the plurality ofitems is a plurality of beverage containers selected from the groupconsisting of plastic bottles, glass bottles, and metal cans.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the base comprises: right and left sidewalls; a plurality of front-to-back rails; and a plurality ofcross-members spanning between the sidewalls; wherein the cross-members,side walls and rails combine to form a grid of slots, the slots receivethe installable wall members and are positioned on the base so as topermit the wall members to be installed in one or more of a plurality ofpitches.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the side walls and therails have a width of about 0.095 inch, the slots have a width of about0.100 inch and a width from a first slot of the grid of slots to anadjacent second slot of the grid of slots is about 0.195 inch.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of pitches are a multiple ofthe slot to slot width of about 0.195 inch.
 10. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the base includes a grid of slots, the slots receive theinstallable wall members and are positioned on the base so as to permitthe wall members to be installed in one or more of a plurality ofpitches.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a width from a firstslot of the grid of slots to an adjacent second slot of the grid ofslots is about 0.195 inch and, wherein the plurality of pitches are amultiple of the slot to slot width.
 12. A retail display glide apparatusfor holding a plurality of items, comprising: a base having front, back,left, and right ends, an upper surface for supporting the items, and abottom surface; a plurality of wall members, at least some thereofremovably installable on the base extending front-to-back so as tocooperate with the base to define a plurality of channels, each channelhaving a width dimensioned for accommodating an associated front-to-backcolumn of the items; and a front member installable to the base and toinstalled ones of the wall members to bound forward extremities of thechannels, wherein: the front member is a first front member and includesa plurality of wall member engaging features at substantially a firstpitch, the first pitch defining an associated first width of theplurality of channels; the apparatus further comprises a second frontmember having wall member engaging features similar to the wall memberengaging features of the first front member but spaced at a secondpitch, the second pitch defining an associated second width of channelssubstantially different from the first width; and the installed wallmembers are installed on the base so as to engage the wall memberengaging features of the second front member and define a secondplurality of channels.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 in combination withthe plurality of items and wherein the plurality of items is a pluralityof beverage containers selected from the group consisting of plasticbottles, glass bottles, and metal cans.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the base includes a grid of slots, the slots receive theinstallable wall members and are positioned on the base so as to permitthe wall members to be installed in at least one of the first and secondpitches.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein a width from a firstslot of the grid of slots to an adjacent second slot of the grid ofslots is about 0.195 inch and, wherein the first and the second pitchesare a multiple of the slot to slot width.
 16. A retail display glideapparatus for holding a plurality of items, comprising: a base havingfront, back, left, and right ends, an upper surface for supporting theitems, and a bottom surface and comprising a molded plastic primary basemember and at least one molded plastic auxiliary base member removablyassembled side-by-side; a plurality of wall members, at least somethereof removably installable on the base extending front-to-back so asto cooperate with the base to define a plurality of channels, eachchannel dimensioned for accommodating an associated front-to-back columnof the items; and a front member installable to the base and toinstalled ones of the wall members to bound forward extremities of thechannels and comprising a molded plastic primary front member and atleast one molded plastic auxiliary front member removably assembledside-by-side; and wherein: the primary front member includes a pluralityof wall member engaging features at substantially a first pitch, thefirst pitch defining an associated nominal width of a first subpluralityof the plurality of channels; each of the at least one auxiliary frontmember includes one wall member engaging feature along a first side ofsuch auxiliary front member; and each of the at least one auxiliaryfront member fronts a channel of a second subplurality of the pluralityof channels, the second subplurality at a second pitch, the second pitchdefining an associated nominal width of the second subpluralitysubstantially different from the first pitch.
 17. The apparatus of claim16 in combination with the plurality of items and wherein the pluralityof items is a plurality of beverage containers selected from the groupconsisting of plastic bottles, glass bottles, and metal cans.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17 wherein the front member includes a plurality ofapertures, each aperture associated with one of the channels andallowing at least partial viewing of a lead item in the associatedcolumn of the associated channel.
 19. A kit for forming a retail displayglide apparatus for holding a plurality of containers, comprising: aprimary base member having front, back, left, and right ends, an uppersurface, and a bottom surface; a plurality of auxiliary base memberseach having front, back, left, and right ends, an upper surface and abottom surface, having a width substantially less than a width of theprimary base member and configured to be selectively assembled with theprimary base member in side by side configuration to form a glide base;a plurality of wall members, at least some thereof being selectivelyinstallable on the base extending front to back so as to cooperate withthe base to define a plurality of channels, each channel foraccommodating an associated front to back column of the containers, theplurality wall members being so installable alternatively in at leasttwo sets of positions corresponding to two different nominal channelwidths; and at least two front member assembly kits respectivelyassociated with the at least two channel widths, each comprising: aprimary front member having front and back surfaces and top, bottom,left, and right edges; and a plurality of auxiliary front members, eachhaving front and back surfaces and top, bottom, left, and right edgesand configured to be selectively assembled with the primary front memberto form a front member assembly, the front member assembly attachable tothe base and to installed ones of the wall members so as to boundforward extremities of the channels.
 20. The kit of claim 19 whereineach front member assembly, along the back surfaces of its primary andauxiliary front members includes a plurality of concave surface portionsrespectively aligned with the plurality of channels for accommodatingthe front container in each associated column.
 21. The kit of claim 19wherein: the primary base member and auxiliary base members are eachsingle pieces of molded plastic each including a plurality of pairs offront and back longitudinal slots; each wall member is a single piece ofmolded plastic and includes top, bottom, front, and back edges with aplurality of holes inboard of said edges, a pair of front and backforward projecting fingers depending from the bottom edge and insertablethrough an associated pair of the front and back slots to interlock thewall member to the glide base via a subsequent forward translation ofthe wall member, and a vertically extending projection along the frontedge; and each front member assembly includes a plurality of verticallyextending channels complementary to the vertically extending projectionsto interlock such front member assembly with the installed wall membersupon a relative vertical translation.
 22. The kit of claim 19, whereinthe primary base member and the plurality of auxiliary base members eachinclude a grid of slots, the slots receive the installable wall membersand are positioned on the base so as to permit the wall members to beinstalled in the two different nominal channel widths.
 23. The kit ofclaim 22, wherein a width from a first slot of the grid of slots to anadjacent second slot of the grid of slots is about 0.195 inch and,wherein the two different nominal channel widths are a multiple of theslot to slot width.